Reversibly mounted cabinet door

ABSTRACT

A door for a cabinet such as a domestic refrigerator cabinet, for example, has hinge pins at its upper and lower ends on each side thereof spring biased to extend beyond the peripheral edges of the door for disposition in hinge plates mounted on the cabinet adjacent the upper and lower ends of each side of the door. A handle adapted to be mounted on one side of the door includes cam actuators which cooperate with the upper and lower hinge pins on the side on which the handle is mounted to retract these hinge pins from support in the hinge plates so that the door is hinged to the cabinet on the opposite side of the door from the handle. The door preferably has a trim cover on the opposite side to that having the handle including means for locking the hinge pins in their extended positions to which they are urged.

United States Patent 1191 Horvay et a1.

14 1 Feb. 4, 1975 1 1 REVERSlBLY MOUNTED CABINET noon [73] Assignee:General Electric Company,

Louisville, Kyv

22 Filed: Dec.10,1973

21 Appl,No.:423,205

[52] US. Cl .1 49/382, 16/147, 16/176, 49/193, 49/460 [51] Int. Cl1505:! 7/02 [58] Field of Search 49/193, 382, 388, 460, 49/402; 16/147,170, 176

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,603,825 7/1952 Seaman 1.16/176 X 3,313,065 4/1967 Sandin 49/460 3,430,386 3/1969 Sandin et al.49/402 X 3,455,061 7/1969 Kesling et a1. 49/402 X Primary Examiner-Kenneth Downey 1571 ABSTRACT A door for a cabinet such as a domesticrefrigerator cabinet, for example, has hinge pins at its upper and lowerends on each side thereof spring biased to extend beyond the peripheraledges of the door for disposition in hinge plates mounted on the cabinetadjacent the upper and lower ends of each side of the door. A handleadapted to be mounted on one side of the door includes cam actuatorswhich cooperate with the upper and lower hinge pins on the side on whichthe handle is mounted to retract these hinge pins from support in thehinge plates so that the door is hinged to the cabinet on the oppositeside of the door from the handle. The door preferably has a trim coveron the opposite side to that having the handle including means forlocking the hinge pins in their extended positions to which they areurged.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEB FEB M975 SHEET 10F 2 PATENTEU FEB 15 SHEET 2 BF 2 REVERSIBLY MOUNTED CABINET DOOR BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION In a cabinet such as a domestic refrigerator cabinet, forexample, it is desired to be able to mount the door so that it can swingin either direction. A dealer can then sell a single domesticrefrigerator for use either as a right-hand or left-hand door and doesnot have to stock separate right-hand and left-hand door cabinets.

Furthermore, when the owner of a domestic refrigerator cabinet moves.for example, the possibility exists that the design of the kitchen inthe new home will be such that the door of the refrigerator cabinetshould swing from the opposite side to that which it swung in' the priorhome for easy accessibility. Thus, it is desirable that the hingemounting of the door of a domestic refrigerator be easily switched.

It has previously been suggested, as for example in U.S. Pat. No.3,378,954-Sandin, to reversibly mount a door for a cabinet such as adomestic refrigerator so that it can be hinged on either side of thecabinet. In the Sandin patent, the hinge pins are manually movable fromwithin the door to a position in which each is supported by a hingeplate carried by the cabinet.

However, with the hinge structure of the Sandin patent. the possibilityexists that all of the hinge pins accidentally could be retracted intothe door whereby the door would no longer be supported on the cabinet.This possibility exists particularly when the hinge mounting of the dooris being changed by the owner at some period of time after havingpurchased the refrigerator.

The present invention satisfactorily solves this problem by providing anarrangement for mounting a door on a cabinet so that, duringchange-over, the door can be always hinged to at least one side of thecabinet. Thus, even if the owner decides to change the hinge mounting ofthe door so that it swings from the opposite side of the cabinet, thearrangement of the present invention enables the owner to make thereversal while the door is hinged to the cabinet on at least one side.

The arrangement of the present invention preferably also incorporatescam actuators for retracting the hinge pins on the side of the door thatis not to be hinged, which are integral with the door handle. Thus, whenthe door handle is mounted on the door. this automatically insures thatthe correct set of hinge pins is retracted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of this invention is to provide animproved reversibly-mounted cabinet door.

Another object of this invention is to provide a reversibly-mountedcabinet door capable of being hinged on either side without the use ofany special tools.

Still another object of this invention is to provide areversibly-mounted cabinet door in which changing of the side on whichthe door handle is disposed automatically inactivates the hinge supportto the cabinet on that side.

In accordance with the illustrated embodiment of the invention. there isprovided an arrangement for reversibly mounting a door on a cabinet. Thearrangement has a first pair of hinge pins supported adjacent the upperand lower ends of the door on one side thereof and a second pair ofhinge pins supported adjacent the upper and lower ends of the door onthe other side thereof. Each of the hinge pins is continuously biased toextend beyond the peripheral edge of the door by means cooperating witheach of the hinge pins so that the hinge pins are disposed withinsupport means mounted on each side of the cabinet at the upper and lowerends thereof to provide hinge mountings for the door. A handle structureadapted to be mounted on one or the other side of the door has meansthereon to retract the hinge pins on that side of the door from thesupport means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. I is a front elevational view of arefrigerator cabinet having upper and lower reversibly-mounted doors inaccordance with the hinge arrangement of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view, partly in elevation, showing thehinge arrangement for the lower end of the upper door and the upper endof the lower door of the cabinet of FIG. I with the doors hinged on theright side.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view, partly in elevation, of a doorfor a single-door cabinet and having the arrangement of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the hingearrangement of the present invention as used with the lower door of thecabinet of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings andparticularly FIG. I. there is shown a domestic refrigerator cabinet 10having an upper door 11 and a lower door 12. Each of the upper door 11and the lower door 12 can be hingedly mounted on either side of thecabinet 10.

The lower door 12 has a pair of hinge bodies 14 disposed in its upperend adjacent the corners thereof and a similar pair of the hinge bodies14 disposed in its lower end adjacent the lower corners. Each of thehinge bodies 14 is supported within the lower door 12.

The door 11 similarly has a pair of the hinge bodies 14 disposed at itsupper end and a similar pair of the hinge bodies 14 disposed at itslower end.

Each of the hinge bodies l4 has a hinge pin 15 (see FIGS. 2 and 4)slidably supported therein within a longitudinal recess 16 andcontinuously urged outwardly of the hinge body 14 to an extendedposition by a spring 17, which also is disposed within the recess 16.The spring 17 acts against lower surface 18 of a square shaped portion19 (see FIG. 4) of the hinge pin 15 and against a surface 20 (see FIG.2), which forms the bottom of the recess 16, of the hinge body 14.

The hinge body 14 has a keeper 21 (see FIGS. 2 and 4) secured theretoand disposed within a slot 22 in a wall of the hinge body 14.Accordingly, the outward movement of the hinge pin 14 by the spring 17is limited by the keeper 2! engaging the upper end of the slot 22.

As shown in FIG. 4, the substantially squareshaped portion 19 of thehinge pin 15 also slides within the longitudinal recess 16 in the hingebody 14. The upper end of the square-shaped portion 19 has a hollowcylindrical portion 23. which protrudes outwardly beyond the peripheryof the door II or 12 in which it is mounted.

The cylindrical portion 23 of the hinge pin 15 is disposed within around opening 24 in a hinge plate 25 as shown in FIG. 2. A pair of thehinge plates 25 is disposed between the lower end of the upper door lland the upper end of the lower door 12 and supported on a portion offront wall 26 of the refrigerator cabinet between the doors 11 and 12.

The cabinet 10 also has a pair of hinge plates 27 (see FIG. 1) disposedon its top wall with each having a round opening for receiving one ofthe hinge pins slidably disposed in the hinge bodies 14 at the upper endof the upper door 11 for support. The cabinet 10 further includes a pairof hinge plates 28 supported on the front wall 26 of the cabinet 10adjacent its lower end with each having a round opening to receive oneof the hinge pins 15 in the hinge bodies 14 at the lower end of thelower door 12 for support.

As shown in H6. 2, the hinge plates not only receive the cylindricalportions 23 of the hinge pins 15 at the upper end of the lower door 12but also receive cylindrical portions 29 of the hinge pins 15 at thelower end of the upper door ll. The portion 29 of each of the hinge pins15 at the lower end of the upper door 11 is formed with a reducedprojection 30 for disposition within the hollow cylindrical portion 23of the hinge pin l4 at the upper end of the lower door 12 as shown forthe right hinge in FIG. 2. Thus, it should be understood that each ofthe hinge pins 15 at the lower end of the upper door ll has thecylindrical portion 29 rather than the cylindrical portion 23.

The lower door 12 has a handle for mounting on the side of the lowerdoor 12 opposite to the side about which the lower door 12 is to pivot.Similarly, the upper door ll has a handle 36 on the side opposite to theside about which the upper door ll is to pivot.

As shown in HO. 4, the handle 35 for the door l2 has a cam actuator 37at its upper end and a similar cam actuator 38 at its lower end. Thehandle 36 has a cam actuator (not shown) at its upper end and a camactuator 40 (see FIG. 2) at its lower end with the cam actuators on thehandle 36 having the same shape as the cam actuators 37 and 38 on thehandle 35.

The cam actuator 32 includes an inclined surface 41, which functions asa wedge or cam when the handle 35 is mounted on the lower door 12. Asthe handle 35 is moved inwardly, the surface 41 engages an intermediatecross-piece or partition 42 of the hinge pin 15 to retract the hinge pin15 within the door 12 against the force of the spring 17. The fullretraction of the hinge pin 15 within the hinge body 14 is shown in FIG.2 for the upper hinge pin 15 at the upper end of the lower door 12.

The cam actuator 37 is inserted into the hinge body 14 through anopening in side wall 43 (see FIG. 4) of the lower door 12 and an opening44 in the hinge body 14. The opening 44 communicates with thelongitudinal recess 16 in the hinge body 14 and extends into a rearpassage or receptacle 45 (see FIG. 2). The cam actuator 38 on the lowerend of the handle 35 is inserted simultaneously into the hinge body 14at the lower end of the lower door 12 through an opening 46 in the sidewall 43 of the lower door 12 and the opening 44 in the hinge body 14.

The handle 35 is secured in this position to the lower door 12 by screws47 (see FIG. 2) extending into threaded holes 48 (see FIG. 4) in thehinge body 14. Of course. the handle 35 is also similarly secured to thehinge body 14 in the lower end of the lower door 12.

Because the lower hinge pins 15 move in the opposite direction to theupper hinge pins 15 during both extension and retraction thereof, thecam actuator 38 at the lower end of the handle 35 has its inclinedsurface 49 (see FIG. 4) disposed to move the lower hinge pin 15 upwardlyto retract the hinge pin 15 within the lower door 12.

A similar arrangement exists with the hinge pins 15 on the upper door I1and the cam actuators (one shown at 40) on the upper door handle 36.Thus, when the cam actuators (one shown at 40) on the upper door handle36 are inserted into the upper door 11, the hinge pins 15 of the upperdoor 11 are no longer supported in the hinge plates 25 and 27 on theside of the door 11 having the handle 36.

Since both of the side walls or edges of the lower door 12 have openingstherein to receive the cam actuators 37 and 38 of the handle 35, theseopenings not covered by the handle should be closed to provide anattractive appearance. Accordingly, a trim cover 50 is disposed on theopposite side wall of the lower door 12 from that having the handle 35.The cover 50 also has a pair of retaining or locking elements (one shownat 51 in FIG. 2) which are secured to the cover 50 in longitudinallyspaced relation to each other so that each of the retaining elements(one shown at Sl) can only fit between a surface 52 of the hinge pin 15and the partition 42 of the hinge pin 15. This relation for the upperright hinge pin 15 on the lower door 12 is shown in FIG. 2

When the hinge pin 15 is supported on the hinge plate 25, thesquare-shaped portion 19 of the hinge pin 15 has its upper surface 53bearing against lower surface 54 of the hinge plate 25. Therefore. whenthe retaining element 51 is inserted within the opening in the side wallof the lower door 12 and the opening 44 in the hinge body l4, it merelyslides between the partition 42 of the hinge pin 15 and the surface 52of the hinge pin 15 to lock or maintain the pin in the extendedposition. An inclined surface 55 of the retaining element 5! aids inguiding the retaining element 51 into the hinge body l4.

The other retaining element on the cover 50 cooperates with the lowerhinge body 14 in the lower right corner of the lower door 12 to lock thelower right hinge pin 15 in its hinge or extended position, that is, theposition in which the hinge pin 15 is disposed in the hinge plate 28.

After the trim cover 50 has been mounted on the lower door l2 so thatthe retaining elements (one shown at 51) are in the fully insertedposition as shown for the retaining element 51 in H0. 2, the cover 50 issecured to the lower door 12 by being connected to the upper and lowerhinge bodies 14 by screws 47 cooperating with the threaded holes 48 inthe hinge bodies 14.

in a similar manner, the upper door 11 has openings in its side wall onthe side opposite that to which the handle 36 is mounted. Accordingly, atrim cover (see FIG. 1) is mounted on the upper wall 11 on the side dooropposite that having the handle 36 secured thereto. The cover 60 hasretaining elements (one shown at 61 in FIG. 2) which. like the retainingelement 5! on the cover 50, cooperate with the hinge pins 15 in thehinge bodies 14 at the upper and lower edges of the right side of theupper door 11. The retaining elements (one shown at 61 of the cover 60lock the hinge pins on this side of the upper door 11 within the upperhinge plate 27 and the lower hinge plate 25.

if it is desired that the handle 35 be mounted on the right hand side ofthe lower door 12 so that the lower door I2 is hinged on its left side,the handle 35 is removed from the left side of the lower door 12 and thecover 50 is removed from the right side of the lower door 12. Then,before the handle 35 is mounted on the right side of the lower door 12and the trim cover 50 is mounted on the left side of the lower door 12,the handle 35 and the cover 50 are inverted. As a result, the camactuator 38 of the handle 35 is in a position to be inserted in theupper hinge body 14 on the right side of the lower door 12 while the camactuator 37 of the handle 35 is in a position to be inserted in thelower hinge body 14 on the right side of the lower door 12. With thecover 50 inverted, the retaining element 51 is inserted in the lowerhinge body 14 on the left side of the door 12 while the other retainingelement of the cover 50 is inserted in the upper hinge body 14 on theleft side of the lower door 12. This change in positions of the handle35 and the cover 50 results in locking the hinge pins $5 on the leftside of the lower door 12 in their extended positions while retractingthe hinge pins 15 on the right-hand side of the lower door 12 within theperpiheral edges of the lower door 12 so that the lower door 12 pivotsabout the hinge pins l5 on the left side of the lower door 12.

A similar procedure is followed for reversing the upper door 11. Thatis, the handle 36 and the cover 60 are inverted and transposed to theopposite sides of the upper door ll.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a refrigerator cabinet 70 having asingle door 71, which has the hinge bodies 14 in both of its uppercorners and both of its lower corners. The cabinet 70 has upper hingeplates 72 mounted thereon at the top and lower hinge plates 73 disposedon its front wall 74 near the bottom of the cabinet 70.

The door 71 has a handle 75, which is like the handle 36, mounted on theleft-hand side of the door 71 so that the door 71 pivots about the hingepins 15 on the righthand side thereof. The handle 75 has a pair of camactuators (one shown at 76), which are like the cam actuators 37 and 38on the handle 35 of the lower door 12 of the cabinet 10. r

The opposite side of the door 71 has a trim cover 78, which is similarto the trim cover 50 for the lower door 12 of the cabinet 10. The cover78 has a pair of retaining elements 79 and 80 to lock the hinge pins 15at the upper and lower ends of the right-hand side of the door 71 in theposition shown in FIG. 3. Each of the handle 75 and the cover 78 issecured by screws 81 to the hinge bodies 14.

When the door 71 is to be hinged on its left side, the positions of thehandle 75 and the trim cover 78 are reversed. They also are inverted inthe same manner as the handle 35 and the trim cover 50.

An advantage of this invention is that the door can be always hinged onthe cabinet during reversal.

A further and important advantage of the present invention is theconstruction and operation of the retaining element 51 to lock theassociated hinge pins 15 in an extended position to thereby preventscrubbing of the bottom edge of a door against the supporting hingeplate on the opposite or handle edge of the door. in the absence of thelocking member 51, the weight of the door would compress the spring 17in the lower hinge body and the door would rest on the hinge plates. Asshown for example in FIG. 2, the locking action of the element raisesthe door relative to the hinge plate 73 to provide a clearance spaceindicated by numeral 85 between the opposite lower corner of the doorand the adjacent hinge plate 73.

For purposes of cxemplification, particular embodiments of the inventionhave been shown and described according to the best presentunderstanding thereof. However, it will be apparent that changes andmodifications in the arrangement and construction of the parts thereofmay be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

We claim:

1. An arrangement for reversibly mounting a door on a cabinet including:

a first pair of hinge pins supported adjacent the upper and lower endsof the door adjacent one side thereof;

a second pair of hinge pins supported adjacent the upper and lower endsof the door adjacent the other side thereof;

means cooperating with each of said hinge pins to continuously bias eachof said hinge pins to a position extending beyond the peripheral edge ofthe door;

first support means on the cabinet to receive in supporting engagementeach of said hinge pins adjacent the upper end of the door when each ofsaid hinge pins is in an extended position;

second support means on the cabinet to receive in supporting engagementeach of said hinge pins ad jacent the lower end of the door when each ofsaid hinge pins is in an extended position;

removably disposed means mounted on one of the sides of the door toretract each of the hinge pins on the one side of the door from saidfirst and second support means when said removably disposed means isdisposed on the door so that said retracted hinge pins are retractedfrom supporting engagement with said first and second support means,said removably disposed means comprising a single longitudinal memberhaving first and second means for cooperation with each of said hingepins on the one of the sides of the door and said single longitudinalmember of said removably disposed means being secured to the door toserve as the handle for the door; and

removable means on the other side of the door from the side having saidremovably disposed means for locking each of said hinge pins on theother side of the door in its extended position and supporting thebottom edge of the door in spaced relationship to the adjacent hingeplates.

2. An arrangement for reversibly mounting a door on a cabinet including:

a first pair of hinge pins supported adjacent the upper and lower endsof the door adjacent one side thereof;

a second pair of hinge pins supported adjacent the upper and lower endsof the door adjacent the other side thereof;

means cooperating with each of said hinge pins to continuously bias eachof said hinge pins to a position extending beyond the peripheral edge ofthe door;

7 8 first support means on the cabinet to receive in supfor cooperationwith each of said hinge pins on the porting engagement each of saidhinge pins adjaone of the sides of the door, said single longitudinalcent the upper end of the door when each of said member being secured tothe door to serve as the hinge pins is in an extended position; handlefor the door, each of said cooperating second support means on thecabinet to receive in means being a continuous urging means, and eachsupporting engagement each of said hinge pins adof said first and secondmeans on said single longijacent the lower end of the door when each ofsaid tudinal member being a cam actuator adapted to hinge pins is in anextended position; and extend into a slot in an unexposed portion ofsaid removably disposed means mounted on one of the hinge pin to movesaid hinge pin against the force sides of the door to retract each ofthe hinge pins 10 of said continuous urging means. on the one side ofthe door from said first and sec- 3. The arrangement according to claim2 including ond support means when said removably disposed removablemeans on the other side of the door from the means is disposed on thedoor so that said retracted side having said removably disposed meansfor locking hinge pins are retracted from supporting engageeach of saidhinge pins on the other side of the door in mentwith said first andsecond support means,said its extended position when said removablemeans is removably disposed means comprising a single lonmounted on theother side of the door. gitudinal member having first and second means

1. An arrangement for reversibly mounting a door on a cabinet including:a first pair of hinge pins supported adjacent the upper and lower endsof the door adjacent one side thereof; a second pair of hinge pinssupported adjacent the upper and lower ends of the door adjacent theother side thereof; means cooperating with each of said hinge pins tocontinuously bias each of said hinge pins to a position extending beyondthe peripheral edge of the door; first support means on the cabinet toreceive in supporting engagement each of said hinge pins adjacent theupper end of the door when each of said hinge pins is in an extendedposition; second support means on the cabinet to receive in supportingengagement each of said hinge pins adjacent the lower end of the doorwhen each of said hinge pins is in an extended position; removablydisposed means mounted on one of the sides of the door to retract eachof the hinge pins on the one side of the door from said first and secondsupport means when said removably disposed means is disposed on the doorso that said retracted hinge pins are retracted from supportIngengagement with said first and second support means, said removablydisposed means comprising a single longitudinal member having first andsecond means for cooperation with each of said hinge pins on the one ofthe sides of the door and said single longitudinal member of saidremovably disposed means being secured to the door to serve as thehandle for the door; and removable means on the other side of the doorfrom the side having said removably disposed means for locking each ofsaid hinge pins on the other side of the door in its extended positionand supporting the bottom edge of the door in spaced relationship to theadjacent hinge plates.
 2. An arrangement for reversibly mounting a dooron a cabinet including: a first pair of hinge pins supported adjacentthe upper and lower ends of the door adjacent one side thereof; a secondpair of hinge pins supported adjacent the upper and lower ends of thedoor adjacent the other side thereof; means cooperating with each ofsaid hinge pins to continuously bias each of said hinge pins to aposition extending beyond the peripheral edge of the door; first supportmeans on the cabinet to receive in supporting engagement each of saidhinge pins adjacent the upper end of the door when each of said hingepins is in an extended position; second support means on the cabinet toreceive in supporting engagement each of said hinge pins adjacent thelower end of the door when each of said hinge pins is in an extendedposition; and removably disposed means mounted on one of the sides ofthe door to retract each of the hinge pins on the one side of the doorfrom said first and second support means when said removably disposedmeans is disposed on the door so that said retracted hinge pins areretracted from supporting engagement with said first and second supportmeans, said removably disposed means comprising a single longitudinalmember having first and second means for cooperation with each of saidhinge pins on the one of the sides of the door, said single longitudinalmember being secured to the door to serve as the handle for the door,each of said cooperating means being a continuous urging means, and eachof said first and second means on said single longitudinal member beinga cam actuator adapted to extend into a slot in an unexposed portion ofsaid hinge pin to move said hinge pin against the force of saidcontinuous urging means.
 3. The arrangement according to claim 2including removable means on the other side of the door from the sidehaving said removably disposed means for locking each of said hinge pinson the other side of the door in its extended position when saidremovable means is mounted on the other side of the door.